Phuket Holidays

My husband and I are planning a holiday/honeymoon to Phuket.
My sister recommends Kata or Karon beaches rather than patong, as she has been there.
We would like to relax etc but my husband is quite adventurous and so we would also like to be able to explore and do some outdoor activities etc.
Is it going to be expensive or annoying to travel from Karon to Patong if we want to go shopping, eating, maybe experience the bars and nightlife?

Any recommendations people have would be appreciated.

Hi .
I am looking for a decent family and kids friendly hotel in Phuket for my visit in July.
I am looking for following features in the hotel:
a. Daily room rent for a twin beds room arround USD 50/=.
b. Hotel to be near shopping & eating areas, and also near to beach.
c. I would like internet ( preferably wireless ) to be available in rooms.
d. As there will be 11 yrs and 6 yrs old kids along, so I am looking for such a place which have some entertainment for kids as well.
Anyone have any recommendations? Your help is much appreciated. As I have heard that hotels in Patong ,situated on the road next to beach are much lower in price and just 5 mins walk to beach. Please comment.
Further, how much does usually a taxi cost from Phuket Airport to a hotel in Patong area?
Thanks
Andrep

Hiey,

I am visiting visiting Phuket for 4 nights (Apr 19-Apr 23′ 2009). I have booked myself at The Pacific Club Resort for 2 nights @ Karon Beach. Here’s my confusion: For the balance 2 nights, I want to stay @ Patong. I am confused between Amari Coral Beach Resort / Novotel Patong resort.

We would be taking day trips or shopping throughout the day and wanting to party to wee hours. My concern is would it safe to travel back just Me & Husband @ late hours to Amari/ Novotel? Or both are bad choices?

Also, the rooms in amari look basic in terms of interior decor but Novotel look very well done on website. We are visiting Phuket for our anniversary and want things to be beautiful. So what do we do? Pick Novotel or Amari? Or consider another hotel?

Thanks in advance for your answers.
Thanks everybody for all your suggestions! I looked through the hotels mentioned and more on The patong Beach and really liked 3 properties:
1) Patong Beach Hotel
2) Patong Bay Garden Resort
3) Andaman Beach Suites Hotel
I really like the # 2 & # 3 for prices but # 1 has far better reviews. What do I choose? Any recommendations on these 3 hotels?

Thanks for your inputs!